#35 Good News Bad News and just news

Well this has been an interesting, fun, stressful, OMG month.

Lets start with good news, could be worse news:  The house.  

Good news is we are happy and love living here.  It is peaceful and roomy.  People here are great.  I personally like the weather, even the heat.  Goodyear was a good choice for us.

Could be worse news is...So after we moved in it seems all the spots on the carpet from years of traffic through this model home decided to reappear.  It was so ridiculous.  Here we have this beautiful home and the carpet in the teen room looks like someone changed the oil in their Harley on it.  I hated it, so I talked LJ into replacing the carpet.  We found this wonderful local company with great reviews.  I kind of knew what we (meaning I) wanted, so we decided to go to their store and talk to someone.

We walk in the door and we just fell in love with the owner, Sarah.  She is wonderful to talk to and I bet a kick in the ass to hang out with.  Her dad started the business 48 years ago so she grew up in the carpet business.   I tell her I loved the carpet we put in the last house.  Didn't know the name, but knew it was manufactured by Shaw.  Described it and believe it or not, she walked straight over to the samples and picked out the exact one.  I remembered the name as soon as she showed it to us.  I was dumbfounded.  Now that's someone who knows the business.

We had a nice conversation when she (yes the owner) came out to do the measuring.  Ordered it and they came to install it.  Ripped out the carpet in the teen room, guest bedrooms and master bedroom and the closets.  Laid the pad and.......................I swear Karma has it out for us...... the carpet has a flaw in it.

Sarah comes out and explains whats going on.  It's a mill mistake that isn't easily seen in the warehouse so it has to be reordered.  She is so apologetic.  They literally offer to lay all the carpet as if it was okay and put all the furniture back.  Then when the replacement comes in they will move the furniture out and rip it all up again.  We both said that was ridiculous.  Just leave it alone; we will manage.  So they threw some carpet in the master so we could have a bedroom.  Put our bedroom furniture back so we have a place to sleep.  Replacement carpet won't be here until the 15th.  Oh well, it just is what it is.  Now mind you, I couldn't see the flaw.  But they did and finally they were able to get me to see it.  I am so impressed with their professionalism.  That's why we do business with locals as opposed to the big box stores.  They survive by their reputation and actually cost less overall.  But bad news is half the house is carpetless, so.......we wait.

In the interim, we are having my future craft room floor redone in tile by the same company.  So ALLLLLLLL the furniture in the house except our bedroom is in the dining room lol.  I feel like we are living in a storage unit.  Scooter doesn't like things out of place so that poor little dog is beside himself.  They start that little project tomorrow.

Moving on..
The builder finalllllly replaced our dishwasher and microwave.  Of course that was not without mishap, lol.  The microwave installer dropped the big ol trim piece on my lower cabinets, causing a small gouge and scratch😬.   So another phone call..another contractor out to fix that.  Nothing in this household goes smoothly, lol.

Saga #3...
Did I mention when the builder did some minor repair work to the walls the painter used the wrong sheen of paint?  Color was ok, but somehow flat painted over eggshell juuuuuuuust doesn't blend.  So that required an extra visit from THAT contractor, lol.  Twice... I won't even go there... just use your imagination.  

Lets see... what else.
Oh yea.  The pool needed renovating since the builder never maintained it properly.  Water was causing damage to the surrounding travertine.  A repair is needed before it really causes an issue.  The Palo Verde trees behind the pool were dropping all kinds of crap into the water, clogging the filter.  Plus twice a year those trees drop thousands of little teeny yellow flowers and the pool has to be shut down until it's over.  So those have to go.  Worse trees ever you could plant near a pool.  Aaaaand the palms were starting to outgrow the pillars.  Also the rock face on the middle pillars was damaged, again because the builder didn't care for the pool properly.  We were able to get the builder to fix a couple things...minor things.  But because the pool is functional, we have to do the rest.  So bad news is our pool is in the middle of a remodel.  Good news is it will be pretty when it's done.  Can't wait to add color to the area by placing pretty pots out there..oh look.  Another shopping excursion needed.  hmmmmm 

But, no.  I'm not regretting moving to a house.  I love it here.  

More on the good news side...

Halloween was fun.  We have a fabulous single girl (37) who's in the military reserve and teaches HR to companies around the country as our neighbor on one side.  She is so much fun and we have unofficially adopted her.  She (Alexis is her name) and I sat out giving candy to the upwards of 75 kids who came by.  It was a blast.  She is so interesting to talk to.  She has lived quite the life in her 37 years.  Had the pleasure of meeting her dad when she moved in.  He's very nice too.  Career military.  We watch out for her since she has no one close by.

Our neighbors all around us are great people.  So welcoming and just plain nice.  We got lucky.  On the other side of us is a couple who were high school sweethearts.  They have six daughters and we never hear a peep from them except the occasional weekend when the family is out back enjoying their yard (as it should be).  Directly across the street is Justin and his family (two daughters and his really nice wife, Allison).  They do like to decorate for the holidays.  They felt sorry for Alexis and I with relatively no decorations for Halloween, so they brought us over a talking pumpkin to sit by our candy table. 🎃 Hopefully next year I can get Mr. Bah Humbug in the spirit.

Neighborhood residents are planning to do a UTV/Golf cart parade around the neighborhood before Christmas.  You are supposed to decorate your vehicle and drive around the entire square mile of houses, spreading Christmas spirit and enjoying the lights.  Yea, I think LJ's not doing that.........this year hahahahahahahaha.  He also said I can't put up 9 trees like I have in the past....(this year)

How about good news in the fun department:  ATV'S

LJ has been doing well.
He was able to go to Utah for a week to join his atv riding group.  He really needed that.  I could tell he was having a good time when he called.  He is able to eat limited foods now, so that makes it much easier.  All of his esophagus stretches were successful.  While he was there, he decided he deserved a new side by side.  A new one...cuz the other one was not a Can Am, and all his buddies, i.e. Rich Kropp, have Can Ams.

Now mind you, I like the Can Am.  In fact I had mentioned while we were still in the RV he should sell the Polaris and get one.  No, he said.  That would be stupid, he said.  The Polaris is only a year old.  Why would he do that.  That would just be silly.  But now, three months later, he should do that.  Oh reallllllllly.... and why is that.  "Because I deserve it and it's more better, hahahaha."  He's right.  He's been through hell this year and we don't know what the future holds, so why not.  So, yes, he got one.
But wait, there's more, lol... and it doesn't quite fit in the bed of the truck, so he needs a trailer to haul it home.  Sure... why not.  It's only money...the kid's inheritance.  WTH.. they are successful in their own lives so screw it.   LOL. The smile on his face is worth it.  Looking forward to taking it out this year, after he buys the hundred and one things it needs to spiff it up.  But I am certain I really need to do some catching up retail therapy of my own...what's he going to say? haha

Scooter News:

His room. bohemian style

Hides in the guest room

Scooter is doing well.  He loves it here.  Plays ball almost every day.  Loves his room where he can stare out the window and bark at things.  When he's bored with that, he goes into the other guest room to hide.  It's quiet and a little darker in there so he likes it.  He likes to chase the skimmer net in the pool, lol.  He does wear a life jacket, though.  I've been teaching him how to get out of the pool just in case he falls in.  But still, he's not allowed in the yard by himself.  Too many critters and what not.  He's not a fan of contractors and is puzzled by all the activity going on, but just goes with the flow.  I think he'll be glad to get his room back, though.  He's not sure what to do with himself lol.

Scooter and his life jacket

More good news in the LJ saga:

He has been eating so much better.  We have actually been able to go out to eat..chinese, Mexican and even the steakhouse where he ordered fish.  What an improvement over even a month ago.  He can eat my home cooking and swears it's not bland hahahahahaha.  That, for me, is an upside to radiation treatment...my food tastes good😎






And here we are... the bad news part of our journey.

So, saw LJ's Urologist today (11/5).  He had a second opinion pathology done on LJ's kidney that was removed.  We were initially told by the local pathologist he found no cancer.  It never sit right with the doctor.  It didn't make sense with all he saw, and the spots on LJ's remaining kidney that it wouldn't be cancer.  So he kept after it and finally got the results back.  His removed right kidney DID have cancer, so there's a strong, albeit rare, possibility the spots on the left kidney are also cancer.  They are growing and they shouldn't be.  Regardless, they must be dealt with.  We are thankful the doctor didn't let it go.  Better to deal with it than ignore it.

So now, poor LJ, who is getting so much better by the day is faced with another challenge.  No matter what he chooses, he faces a possibility of dialysis.  And that is scary to him.  It can be life changing.  He most likely would never be a candidate for a transplant because of his cancer history and his age, sans a direct donation.  But we aren't there yet.  There is still hope with treatment this will turn out ok.  His left kidney is functioning well, so that's good.  We see a radiologist soon to determine the next course of action which will be the freezing of the spots.  The concern is the damage to the kidney function.  There is no way of knowing how the kidney function will be impacted until it's done.  We've been gut punched again, but we made it through the first two cancers (We think) so we will make it through this.  He goes for his next PET scan on the 18th and we get the results o the 25th.  That's when we should find out how the other cancer treatments went.  So far all preliminary tests say those treatments went well.  

He's a test case, that's for sure.  Three separate, distinct, unrelated cancers is extremely rare.  It's very rare to have cancer in two kidneys.  I call him Mr. Special.  or maybe Mr. Challenge, since he likes to give the doctors a challenge in how to treat all this.

He's taking it in stride on the outside, as am I.  But inside, I know we both are just sad.  Too much living to do to let this stop us.  But, sometimes you just can't control what life gives you.  So, I guess we will fight till the end.  Maybe he's not only a rare test case, but also that guy that survived all this.  I hope so.

So that's where we are today.  Back to one day at a time.  I can't wait for 2019 to be over.  2020 HAS to be a better year.  I know they say God only gives you what you can handle...But I'm pretty sure the load LJ is carrying is heavy enough.  Time to lighten it up.

Keep those prayers coming...we still need them.

Pool before, pretty but messy

Big trees gone, palms still there

Palms out.  Now you can see the deck

Let the demo begin